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7,200 Xcel customers lose gas in Niwot, Gunbarrel in bitter cold

Gas back on for 1,250 homes, businesses by late Saturday morning

Scott Rochat Longmont Times-Call

Posted:
12/06/2013 09:41:32 AM MST

Updated:
12/07/2013 03:19:37 PM MST

Homeowner Jim Kalinski talks with Zack Shaw of Xcel Energy down in the crawlspace as the power company relighted the house's furnace in Niwot on Saturday. With the help of space heaters and electric blankets the family stayed in the home overnight as the temperature dropped down to 41 degrees inside in the morning.
Photo by Paul Aiken / The Boulder Daily Camera/ December 7, 2013 (Paul Aiken)

Hundreds of utility crew members worked overnight and were continuing efforts on Saturday to restore Xcel Energy natural gas service to thousands of Boulder County homes and businesses, according to a spokesman for the company.

Xcel spokesman Mark Stutz said that by 11 a.m. Saturday, natural gas had been restored to about 1,250 of the customers affected by a Friday morning equipment failure that knocked out gas service to about 7,200 Xcel Energy homes and businesses in unincorporated Boulder County, including Niwot and the Gunbarrel area.

Stutz said Xcel estimated it would be able to restore service to about 400 customers an hour, which would take the company into the early evening hours to complete restoration to the majority of customers that lost gas service on Friday.

Xcel officials had said on Friday night that the process of re-igniting gas pilot lights could take up to 24 hours.

Alyssa Ostrander said she and her life partner spent the night in a Boulder hotel after unsuccesfully waiting for about three hours for an Xcel worker to show up at their Gunbarrel home on Willow Lane.

Ostrander said in a Saturday interview that she'd been told that Xcel would be at her home at about 11 p.m. Friday. She said she'd sat in her car outside the home, with the engine running to keep warm, before giving up and spending the rest of the night at the Boulder Marriott.

She said she wa returning to her home on Saturday morning to check on a cat she'd left there but was uncertain about whether she could expect gas to be restored by noon.

Complicating the situation, nearly 4,000 Xcel customers -- mainly in the gas outage area -- also lost electricity at about 8 p.m. Friday, according to the energy provider. The electricity outage was much shorter, though, and the lights were back on by about 9 p.m.

Xcel's Stutz said the gas failure happened at about 6 a.m. at a major natural gas regulator station near Niwot. The regulator controls the flow of gas for the area, opening and closing the valve as needed, so when the equipment broke, it closed the valve and stayed closed.

The area affected runs roughly to North 95th Street on the east, North 47th Street on the west, Niwot Road on the north, and Jay Road on the south.

Xcel reported at 2:30 p.m. Friday that the regulator had been repaired, but that it would have to continue shutting down all natural gas downstream of the break before the flow of gas from the regulator could be resumed, so that gas didn't escape into homes or businesses. That flow was finally restarted at 4:45 p.m., though a lot of work lay ahead.

"We're hoping to get several hundred folks to get here quickly and begin restoring service this afternoon," Stutz said at about noon Friday. That included going home-to-home to restart pilot lights and make sure the home is getting an even flow of gas, without any air pockets.

Stutz confirmed Friday night that at about 8 p.m., 4,000 customers lost electricity, mostly in the Gunbarrel area, for an hour.

Lefty of Lefty's Gourmet Pizza reaches out to give a hearty handshake to Ben Johnson of Xcel Energy after Johnson turned the gas back on to the downtown Niwot business on a frigid Saturday morning, Lefty, one name only, kept the business open Friday night with temperatures inside the store in the 30's. Since they had no ovens to cook they made take-and-bake pizzas for customers who had electricity to cook with.
Photo by Paul Aiken / The Boulder Daily Camera/ December 7, 2013 (Paul Aiken)

"This appears at this time to be a separate incident," he said. "This doesn't appear to be anything other than a power outage."

About 300 people were expected to be part of the gas restoration work, with the company calling in employees from Colorado, Minnesota and Wisconsin, utility workers from California and New Mexico, and assistance from other private companies.

Stutz said the crews would work around the clock and would call customers when Xcel was ready to do relighting in their area. Customers who do not already have a cell phone number on file with Xcel should call the company at 800-895-4999 to leave one, and should leave an outdoor light on when someone is home to let a crew in. The person meeting them must be at least 18 years old.

In a Friday afternoon announcement, Xcel encouraged customers to leave their homes for a warming center because of the length of time needed for repairs and relighting. Before leaving, Stutz said, customers should turn their water faucets to a slow drip to prevent pipes from freezing and to make sure the water is draining.

Stutz said on Saturday that all customers should know that someone who's at least 18 years old has to be at home or in the business to provide access for the Xcel workers restoring service.

St. Vrain Valley School District spokesman John Poynton said the Red Cross has contacted the district to see if Niwot High School could be made available as a shelter. Poynton said that the high school is available, but the district was waiting for word to see if the school will be needed.

On Friday night, the American Red Cross opened a warming shelter at Douglass Elementary School, 840 75th St., providing space for Xcel customers waiting for their gas service to be restored, as well as an area where they could take their pets. The Boulder Valley Humane Society also said it would accept pets.

Stutz said only one person was reported to have stayed at the shelter overnight, but he said it remained open on Saturday morning and was scheduled to close at noon. He said people continuing to need assistance should contact the Red Cross directly, at 303-772-7474.

Employees of affected businesses noticed the outage early Friday morning.

"It's getting chilly," said Mike Dinges, maintenance manager of Leanin' Tree Museum of Western Art at 6055 Longbow Drive in Boulder -- just southwest of the intersection of the Colo. 119 and 63rd Street.

Dinges said that at first, an Xcel representative told him service went out around 8:30 a.m. Friday, but "I saw a drop in my water boiler temperatures before 7."

"I have spots (in the building) down in the low 60s," Dinges said about 10:15 a.m.

When Seth Steele of Niwot Market came in Friday morning to find the stove not working, his first thought was, "What did we do?"

"At first, I figured we had done something wrong," Steele said. "Then there was gas in the line, but it was very slow. It was like when they shut the water off during the flood and there was still a little left. But now it's all gone."

The business remained open, though the loss of gas affected the prepared-food side.

The outage appeared to have hit everyone in Niwot, Steele said, but it didn't slow his business down.

"Everyone keeps coming in and talking about what happened," he said. "It's actually very busy. The high school kids are coming in, so it hasn't stopped things over there. It's pretty normal, steady business."

Poynton said that the SVVSD received no reports of outages at any schools.

Xcel said that if customers notice a "rotten egg" smell, they should leave immediately without turning on or off any electrical devices, or using a garage door opener or phone, since it could be the additive placed in natural gas to detect leaks. Once safely away, the resident can either call Xcel at 800-895-2999 or call 911.

Stutz said the relighting of pilot lights that began on Friday evening and continued through Saturday was the second round of trips to each individual home or business.

Tucker Shelton of Niwot carries bundles of firewood to his car after purchasing some of the few remaining pieces Friday, Dec. 6, 2013, at Niwot Market. Natural gas service to 7,200 customers in the Niwot and Gunbarrel areas was lost on Friday.
(Matthew Jonas/Times-Call)

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